Seven years ago, give or take a week (the initial posts were backdated), I first started this website, Australian Wine Review.

Happy birthday ozwinereview!

I first started this site largely as a place to store my tasting notes. To be honest, I didn’t figure anyone would really read them, but I at least could have a central database…

Flash forward seven years and ozwinereview is a major part of my life. It has enabled me to travel around the world, meet great people and drink endless amounts of amazing wine. Wine that, had I remained focused just on getting published (which is all I wanted in 2008, achieving that in 2010) may never have come my way.

Well done, seven years younger Andrew.

In return, all this website has required is over 6000 hours of my time. That may sound like a ridiculous number, but when you get into the groove of writing most days, it becomes second nature. Writing is a part of the day, and much more satisfying than watching shitty reality tv, or sleeping.

Gee I miss sleep.

Personally, I don’t think I’m a talented writer by any means, and I find it genuinely hard to reread posts without cringing about shitty/improper grammar (I only fix glaring mistakes now). Still, I’m proud of the sheer volume of honest opinion contained within these pages. It may not have always been pretty, but points were made.

Importantly, I need to thank a whole lot of people for helping me to make it this far. Many, many people. Many.I’d especially like to thank my incredibly supportive partner, who understands that I stay up late at night for a reason. You are awesome.

Thanks to my family, for reading my articles and clicking on all the ads. Keep it up and I promise to continue supplying you with wine…

Thanks to the fellow bloggers, wine writers and editors who have offered praise, criticism, advice and fact checking over the years. I appreciate your sometimes brutal honesty and especially those emails/text messages that say ‘I think you’ve used the wrong your in that sentence’ (you know who you are). Thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks.

Thanks to the winemakers, PR representatives, promoters, marketers, etc., who have kindly sent me wine, showed me around, flown me places and looked after me with great booze over the years. I couldn’t have gone this far without you all. Much love.

Thanks, importantly, to you for reading. As I’ve said many times before, blogging is a lonely pursuit and only made fun by the emails and feedback that you get back. Please, send me more emails, more messages, more comments. More angry emails. More debate too. I dig it.

Finally, thanks wine for being so bloody awesome. I was nineteen when I first fell in love with you and now, fifteen years later, the love couldn’t be any stronger…

So here’s cheers – to another seven years of Australian Wine Review!

P.S Here is a two part video I did on being a wine blogger filmed a few years ago. I was a little chubbier back then, but the sentiments are still exactly the same… View the videos here and here).